Should the NBA adopt BIG3’s four-point shot?

Thanks to the Golden State Warriors, outside shooting is more prevalent than ever in the game of basketball.

We see kids on the playground hoisting up numerous threes, even if most of them aren’t fundamentally trained enough to knock those down at an efficient clip.

But with the league’s proliferation and affinity for outside shooting nowadays, it is clear that the outside shot is here to stay.

But is adding a more distant shot on the horizon, especially with the BIG3 fully adopting it? Could the four-pointer make its way to mainstream basketball in the near future?

Today, FOX Sports PH examines the possibilities if the NBA has adopted such shot.

Adding the three-pointer: from gimmick to an essential part of the game

When the three-pointer was officially established back 1979, most saw it as a gimmick to keep fans entertained rather than something that can be added to someone’s arsenal. In fact, after its full implementation in the said season, teams would only attempt by an average of 2.8 3PA’s per game.

Fast forward to today, the league is averaging around 29.0 3PA’s per game, an astronomical jump as compared to 38 years ago.

Similar to the three-pointer, if ever the league decides to install the four-pointer, expect negative comments to be all over instantly as they’ll see it as a novelty, especially at first.

“You put that four-point line in there and people will start practicing. And once they start practicing, they get better at it. Maybe five or ten years down the road, fours are what everybody will be shooting. The game evolves.”

It won’t be hard to envision players who’ll make the four-pointer regularly. In fact, guys like Steph Curry and Damian Lillard have shown the capability to shoot it from way deep and officially implementing a four-point shot would provide an incentive for players to add it to their offensive arsenal.

Overall, four-pointers would supercharge team offenses and would definitely increase TV ratings for the fan’s delight.

A solution to a non-existent problem

But as the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

As if the floor isn’t stretched to its breaking point already, there’s no need to look for ways to expand the floor by adding a four pointer.

Offenses have been at an all time high, breaking records left and right and it is a clear testament as to how far the league has gone.

But by introducing a four-point shot, defenses will be so stretched that they’ll be doing full court presses most of the time, which would add more wear and tear to players. The value of having centers would diminish even more, especially if they can’t hit outside shots. Basically, the idea of adding a four-point shot would cause a domino effect for more radical changes in the league’s rule book that most fans would not be ready to accept, at least in the near future.

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